The new indie horror-comedy Everwinter Night, now streaming on Prime Video, has a backstory crazier than its genre-blending plot. Just days before filming was set to begin in New Hampshire, the movie originally greenlit by production company Dreamscape Productions fell apart due to unforeseen complications. Most filmmakers would have thrown in the towel, but writer Chris Goodwin and director Adam Newman took a wildly ambitious approach instead.
With a cast and crew already assembled, Goodwin and Newman made the snap decision to ditch the failed project entirely and create a completely new feature film from scratch – writing it essentially in real-time as production unfolded. Their mantra? The show must go on, even if they were making it up as they went along.
“The shoot was unlike anything we had ever done or experienced,” Newman recalled. “After 12-hour days on set, we headed back to write the scenes for the next day, trusting in the story we had loosely outlined just days before.”
From this madcap, seat-of-your-pants process, the offbeat horror-comedy Everwinter Night was born. It follows best friends Maddy and V whose quiet getaway is disrupted when college pals intrude. V gets roped into a eerie celebration at a remote ski lodge hosted by a sinister group of wealthy men.
The film skillfully blends slow-burn suspense with quirky humor and chilling horror set pieces. It stars Victoria Mirrer, McKenna Parsons, Goodwin, Jamie Dufault, and acclaimed scream queen Sarah Nicklin (The Retaliators, The Black Mass). Though the script was being created practically on the fly, the dedicated cast and crew persevered.
“Somehow, we crafted a personal story blending humor with characters you love to hate and wild, story-driven scares,” said Newman.
That successful tonal juggling act paid off. After a buzzworthy festival run including Best Feature at the Central Florida Film Festival, Dreamscape opted to self-distribute this labor of love. The final deliriously offbeat product is now available to stream.
Everwinter Night’s very existence is a testament to the cast and crew’s tenacity. When their original production imploded, they could have easily walked away. Instead, they turned potential disaster into an original genre gem crafted under the most chaotic of circumstances. For horror fans seeking something wild and refreshingly different, this unscripted frightfest is a must-see.
